A group of us got started promptly, a little after 6:00am. We left the University via the Burke-Gillman Trail, which we followed for a few miles to the Wallingford neighborhood. After breakfast at a local church, we went down to Gasworks Park to dip our rear wheels into Puget Sound for the official start of our journey.
We turned back up the trail and followed it all the way to Woodinville. From there, local roads led us to Duvall, then eventually to Sultan and Gold Bar on the Stevens Pass Highway. In Duvall, I caught up to Peter Culley from Pittsburgh, and Ryan, both Cycle America staff members. The three of us hammered pretty hard for about 25 miles to the lunch stop outside of Gold Bar.
The remaining 25 miles of the ride was pretty much a straight shot up the Stevens Pass Highway to the town of Skykomish. Some climbing was involved, but nothing too harsh yet. Scenic highlights were vistas of some lower Cascade peaks, cold rushing mountain streams, and last-chance espresso stands.
I got to the end of the ride around 1:05pm; total mileage for the day was 76.5, average speed was 16, and maximum speed was 38. I got cleaned up with a cold shower at the Skykomish High School. Later in the afternoon, Matt from Australia and I took a ride in the van with a few staffers (Kira, Paul, Jeremy, Tauna, and Mary) to the edge of town to take a refreshing dip in the Skykomish River. It was ice cold! I just waded a bit, but everyone else took the full plunge!
After dinner (good–lasagna) and the daily Tour Talk, we got to hear everyone’s stories as we all introduced ourselves and told about what led us to be on the tour.
Later, a large group of us went to the Whistling Post Tavern and knocked back a few pitchers of Alaskan Amber Ale and Red Hook ESB.
Filed under: Coast to Coast 2004 |
Miles 4 Melanoma 
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